More random musings of Andrew B. Smith - based on nearly 20 years in hi-tech PR, a liking for the writings of George Orwell, and music, film and books.

April 2007

April 30, 2007

Somebody asked me today who sent the first press release via e-mail in the UK? I've always given that accolade to Frank O'Mahony, the then Apple UK PR Manager in 1990. I claimed the number 2 spot a month or so after Frank - at least according to what Jack Schofield wrote at the time.

However, I'm more than happy to be told otherwise. Anybody got any ideas?

Canuckflack reports on how Tagcrowd can be used by PRs to quickly analyse text to check for key words and messages. He says it:

shines a light on underlying tone (positive, negative, inspirational)

helps you understand the emotion being communicated (strong, responsive, dedicated, things like that)

provides a 50 word impression of the text and the intentions of its authors

much cheaper than contracted media analysis, with a similar level of accuracy

Tag clouds are also helpful in comparing texts. Over at pollster.com, you can see an analysis of the speeches delivered by the Democratic presidential candidates on Thursday night.

The breakthrough of TagCrowd is the easy capability to develop a tag
cloud from any text - online or off line. This is a practical
application of 2.0 technology to our everyday work as communicators and
marketers.

As more web apps and mashups can be applied to offline tasks, these
forms of technology will be integrated into the everyday work of all
communicators and marketers - not just by early adopters and the
technically saavy.

But journalists can use it too - they can analyse press releases to quickly see what message the PR wants them to believe - and then decide for themselves whether they'll buy it or not. All this Web 2.0 stuff has a double edged sword.

April 27, 2007

As Strumpette says, this is a must-read piece - the story of Doug Dowie, the former head of Fleishman Hillard’s LA office wrongly convicted last year of masterminding an over-billing scheme with L.A.'s Department of Water and Power.

I can see the queues forming to write the screenplay based on this one.

Peter Kirwan of FullRun fame reports in his latest weekly newsletter (excellent issue BTW) that he has met TWL in the flesh - and that the identity of the UK's most (in)famous tech PR gossip-meister and satirist is soon to be revealed.

I confess I now know who it is - but I'll leave it to TWL to reveal themselves in good time.....

April 19, 2007

Valleywag reports that the new WSJ managing editor is "tired of the cosy arrangements" that have previously existed with big tech companies on embargoes. VW seems to think this move will be followed by others in the US.

April 02, 2007

Dennis Howlett has posted about being approached by a US tech company for a recommendation for PR representation over here in Europe.

it reminded me that prospective clients often ask journalists for their views on who they regard as good PR companies. Most of the journalists I've ever talked invariably say they typically recommend smaller outfits over the larger shops - we often get such tips offs. However, this rarely seems to result in business. Clearly press opinion is only one factor in why clients pick an agency - but I'm bemused by why prospects often don't even seem to want to follow up a journalists recommendation.

Then again, perhaps things are changing - as Dennis says: "In business relationships, it’s not who you know. It’s what you know
about those you know that matters. In an increasingly socialised world,
that is a dimension that is becoming easier to tap into."